Incident Command System

As an APHIS program, Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) is not new to responding to plant pest emergencies. Our traditional response programs, shown by successes with cooperative fruit fly programs and a variety of other new plant pests, have demonstrated PPQ’s ability to respond quickly, in a manner that is structured to take advantage of the resources at hand, in concert with our state cooperators.

The ability to conduct coordinated responses to large emergencies has taken on new importance as reflected in the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) issued February 28, 2003. This directive requires that all federal departments and agencies adopt the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in their domestic emergency management. NIMS is designed to provide consistent nationwide approach to federal, state, and local governments to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.

This site contains PPQ's information related to its implementation of the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides links to other relevant ICS sites.

PPQ Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan (TEP) is the roadmap for PPQ, State partners, University, and industry cooperators to accomplish their strategic priorities. USDA-APHIS-PPQ has pursued a coordinated homeland security strategy that combines enhanced planning, new equipment purchases, innovative training, and realistic exercises to strengthen agency’s emergency prevention and response capabilities. Training and exercises play a crucial role in this strategy, providing USDA-APHIS-PPQ with a means of attaining, practicing, validating, and improving capabilities.